


Not All It’s Hopped Up to Be

by Aikori_Ichijouji



Category: Skip Beat!
Genre: Bromance, Comfort Food, Fairy Tale Curses, Secondary Characters, a modern-day story with fairy tale flavors, familiarity with the frog prince fairytale helps here, frog planchette, makeshift ouija boards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28199160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aikori_Ichijouji/pseuds/Aikori_Ichijouji
Summary: “Don’t you ever feel like you’re just a secondary character to someone else’s adventure sometimes?” he mused while dragging a finger across the coffee table.This got Kijima’s attention and he looked up from his phone. “Hey, whoa, none of that moping,” he chided. “You think the Fellowship, who helped Frodo take the ring to Mount Doom, weren’t integral to the story? We’re the whole reason Ren even made it here in the first place.”A short, unlikely story told from the point-of-view of equally unlikely protagonists. A maverick contribution to theSkip Beat Winter Challenge 2020organized by the illustriousncisduckie.
Relationships: Mogami Kyoko/Tsuruga Ren
Comments: 9
Kudos: 24
Collections: Skip Beat Winter Challenge 2020!





	Not All It’s Hopped Up to Be

**Author's Note:**

> So I was a (semi) lazy rebel and basically co-opted the word prompts of both [persephonekyoko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephonekyoko/pseuds/persephonekyoko) and AkisMusicBox and added in the extra challenge word. So you get a total of seven prompt words (hopefully seamlessly) woven into this oneshot!
> 
> Unabashedly stolen prompt words: soup, pine cone, frostbitten, frozen, champagne, and confetti  
> Challenge word: snowed in

“What about her?” Kijima whispered after they were shown to their table.

His eyes followed the sway of long, dark hair of the young woman who walked away from them, threading her way between the packed tables before disappearing into the back. The restaurant was bustling, as one would expect around dinner time when the city was feeling the first sharp bites of winter at its heels. Everyone wanted something to help stave off the bitter chill in the air, be it a bowl of soup or rice. Hikaru looked at his friend sitting across from him, blowing on his fingers. They were no different.

“I haven’t heard a peep out of Ren, so she’s probably out of the running,” he replied before consulting the menu Kijima passed him.

“Shame,” Kijima sighed. “She was cute.”

“We’re not doing this for you,” he prompted.

“I think Ren would appreciate it if we went the extra mile to find him a beautiful woman to lift his curse.” The lazy smile Kijima wore matched the way he slouched in his seat.

Hikaru rolled his eyes and groaned. “You were right there with me when the shaman said it wasn’t a curse.”

“Eh, it’s easier to explain it that way.” Kijima shrugged.

“Rrrrreennnnnn,” came a tiny croak from Hikaru’s front pocket.

“I know, buddy,” Hikaru said softly. “Kijima’s just being an ass. Again. As usual.”

“Hi, my name’s Kyoko,” a vibrant voice interrupted them. “Are you both ready to order?”

Hikaru looked to the source of the voice and barely stifled a gasp. Were he asked, he could only describe the young woman standing at their table as a veritable portrait of beauty in the raw. Ruddy orange hair and deep amber eyes that held a shy confidence had rendered him speechless. However, this was not the case with his companion. He heard the telltale clearing of his throat and inwardly cringed in anticipation of Kijima turning on the smarm.

“Well, Kyoko, I think I will be if you can help me with one thing first,” Kijima drawled with a sickly sweet smile that dramatically contrasted with Hikaru’s deep frown.

_‘For the love of anything sacred, don’t ask for her number.’_ He pleaded silently with his friend.

“Tell us what you recommend,” he finished and Hikaru’s sigh of relief was louder than he’d meant it to be.

Her polite smile brightened into a full grin and Hikaru felt a tightening in his chest. “The special today is white stew. It may be the cheapest meal on the menu, but it’s delicious!”

“Specials usually aren’t cheap.” Her face colored a bit when Hikaru pointed it out and, damn, if that wasn’t the cutest thing ever.

“Oh, no, it’s nothing bad, I assure you.” She shook her head, causing her earrings—shaped adorably like tiny snow-kissed pine cones—to graze her cheeks. “We, um, had an overstock of chicken a little while back and the boss wanted to use it up before it became frostbitten. So our loss is your gain, I guess.”

She punctuated her last sentence with a short laugh and Hikaru wasn’t sure he even needed the stew. He was already warmed from head to toe. The look Kijima gave him across the table told him he was probably quite red in the face, but there was little he could do to stop it. He felt like his heart had burst clear out of his chest. Literally.

Well, something had burst out anyway, but it wasn’t his heart.

“Rrrrrrrreeeennn! Renrrreeennnnn!” There on the table sat a small, smooth, golden frog with bright green eyes.

Kyoko let out a surprised yelp at the sight of it. “I’m so sorry but we don’t allow pets in here.”

“He’s not a pet he’s, ah—” Hikaru tried to corral the frog who jumped about and croaked excitedly in front of their server. “He has some special—whoa! Uh, circumstances.”

Kyoko cocked an unamused eyebrow. Hikaru looked to his companion for assistance. Tilting his head to one side with a soft smile, Kijima went for the charming approach.

“You see, Kyoko, our diminutive friend here is actually human,” he explained. “Unfortunately he’s become the victim of a curse—”

“Still not a curse,” Hikaru grunted, having finally wrapped his hands around the frog to keep it still.

“Anyway, we found him like this some months ago and decided we’d try to help the little guy out,” he continued, ignoring Hikaru. “We can’t exactly leave him outside since he’s pretty tiny and, in this weather, he’d be frozen solid in no time.”

Kyoko’s eyes widened. She looked fascinated. Also concerned? Perhaps a combination of the two. At any rate, Hikaru was grateful. It didn’t seem like she was going to tell them to leave.

“So, we’ll take two specials, if you don’t mind?” he squeaked out once he’d wrestled Ren back into his front pocket. The frog’s head still stubbornly poked out over the top to keep an eye on Kyoko.

Her eyes narrowed for a split second but she eventually nodded. Once she turned to leave, both men looked to their amphibian ward. Ren, as the frog was named due to the sound it constantly made, peered innocently out from its temporary home in Hikaru’s shirt. Kijima ran an exasperated hand over his face.

“Seriously, guy? You could’ve gotten us thrown out of here,” Kijima huffed.

“Rrreennn.”

“And you’re not even a little bit sorry.”

“Ren.”

“What the hell was that anyway?” Kijima demanded. “You were fine until Kyoko…”

“Until Kyoko showed up,” Hikaru finished when it, too, dawned on him. “Is she the one?”

“Ren! Rrrreenn-eennn!”

“Are you sure about this?” asked Hikaru, predictably skeptical. “You’ve been wrong before.”

The frog seemed to ponder this for a second. “Ren,” it finally squawked.

“She better be,” Kijima warned, wagging a finger. “Because, if you’re frog-blocking us, you and I are gonna have words.”

The three of them sat in relative silence after that, the bustle from the restaurant’s other patrons notwithstanding. Hikaru was grateful everyone around them had been loud enough that the sound of Ren’s croaking wasn’t noticeable. Hopefully it would stay that way. The last thing they needed was to attract any more attention.

Their wait wasn’t long as Kyoko returned rather quickly. Hikaru had a scant second to take in the steamy bowl of stew she set in front of him before she sat down. She folded her arms on the table and leaned towards both of them. Determination had set her lips into a tight line, but her eyes sparkled with intrigue.

“Okay, tell me all about this curse.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be,” Hikaru paused, “I dunno, working?”

“I’m on break for the next half hour.” She waved a hand at them. “Kanae will cover for me. Now, come on. Tell me everything.”

“You mean you believe us?” Kijima asked around a mouthful of stew. Hikaru winced.

“Of course I do!” She beamed. “Curses and legends and fairytale magic? I love this kind of stuff!”

Hikaru began to wonder if maybe Ren was actually right about her. She was certainly different from the others. Everyone else they thought would be a decent candidate usually ran away screaming the minute they saw Ren. But this one—this one actually came _back_.

“Right, where to start…”

“From the beginning, obviously,” Kyoko said, dancing in her seat with animated impatience.

Thus, Hikaru began his tale from the moment he and Kijima met the strange older gentleman selling bright pink bags of kumquats outside a train station months before. Kijima decided to grab one, and a frog poked its head out from between the bright orange fruits. Oddly enough, the older man seemed overjoyed and told them both they could have the bag free of charge, with the added caveat that they take care of their little hitchhiker.

“We thought he was nuts,” Kijima scoffed.

But Kyoko was entranced. Her chin was cradled in her hands and she had this dreamy look in her eyes.

“No, no,” she defended. “All the best fairytales start out like this. Keep going!”

The kumquat peddler told them the frog was on an important journey and, since they were chosen to be his new companions, they needed to help him continue. Furthermore, the frog wasn’t just an ordinary frog, it turned out, but a man who’d transformed into one and now sought a way to return to his rightful self. Therefore, the task was now theirs to help Ren regain his human form; whether they liked it or not.

“Fortunately for him, he’s kind of a cute little sucker,” Kijima added. Ren croaked in agreement.

“Anyway, once we agreed to take him with us,” Hikaru continued. “The man vanished without a trace.”

Kyoko squealed with delight at this. “Classic! So, do you know how to break his curse?”

“It’s not actually a curse,” Hikaru started to say, but his friend beat him to it.

Truth be told, they didn’t actually know that until Ren caught the eye of a shaman on the subway one afternoon. The shaman declared she felt a strong aura of magic coming from Hikaru’s pocket, which was right about when Ren’s head poked out. After looking him over, she declared that Ren had transformed himself and only he would recognize who could change him back again.

Ren had hopped out of Hikaru’s pocket again and sat quietly in front of Kyoko. Tentatively, she reached a single finger out but stopped just shy of touching him. Hikaru nodded, letting her know it was all right and she made contact. A tiny coo worked its way out of her lips and Hikaru wanted to beg her to do the same to him.

“You’re right, he is cute,” she admitted with a smile. “But did you really have to name him after the sound he makes? He’s not a pokemon.”

“Well, he refuses to tell us his actual name.”

Kyoko’s eyes widened. “He can talk?!”

“In a way.” Kijima reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper that unfolded into a crude type of ouija board. He flattened it out on the table and Ren immediately hopped onto it.

_K-Y-O-T-O,_ he spelled out by hopping onto the letters in turn.

“No, Ren, her name is Kyo _ko_ ,” Hikaru corrected.

_K-Y-O-T-O,_ he spelled again.

“No—” Hikaru tried again when Kyoko stopped him.

“Wait, I’m from Kyoto.” Her eyes widened further when Ren hopped over to the ‘YES’ written at the top of the page. “You know I’m from Kyoto?” she asked Ren directly.

Ren hopped once but stayed on ‘YES’.

“Do—do we know each other?” she whispered, leaning closer to the frog.

Ren hopped again. The answer remained the same.

“Well, pop the champagne,” Kijima whistled and let his spoon clatter into his now empty bowl. “I think we may have found a winner.”

Kyoko looked visibly shaken, but she refused to take her eyes off the frog. The two of them stared intently at each other for a mostly brief eternity. She leaned back and let her hands fall into her lap. Then she took a deep breath.

“Who are you?” Her question came out in a low, unsteady voice. “Who are you to me?”

_C-O-R-N_. The word meant nothing to everyone else, except Kyoko.

“It can’t be,” she breathed.

“Kyoko, break time’s over,” a voice called from the kitchen. 

“Coming,” she yelled back and stood up, adjusting her clothes with shaky hands.

“We close at 10:30 tonight. Can you wait here until then?” Her eyes begged them to agree as she asked. 

“We don’t want to take up a table,” Hikaru started to protest,but she shook her head.

“You can stay upstairs,” she offered. “I live here, actually. I’ll tell the owners that you’re friends of mine from back home. Don’t worry about the Boss; he looks menacing, but he’s a big softie.”

Both Hikaru and Kijima doubted the latter half of that statement when a taciturn man glared at them while holding a knife when Kyoko escorted them through the kitchen to the common room just above it. The boss’ wife, however, was all smiles and hospitality. She left them with snacks, a beverage, and even the television remote. The hours crawled by with the backing soundtrack of whatever variety show they happened to find and ignore.

Kijima busied himself mostly with looking at apartment listings on his phone while Ren sat on his shoulder. He was excited at the prospect of finally finding a place that didn’t also need to accept pets. That always came with a hefty deposit. Hikaru supposed it would be nice to stop paying those, what with their meager income from their various entertainment gigs. Still, he wasn’t sure he was ready for this bizarre situation to be resolved so soon. His reluctance manifested in a long sigh.

“Lamenting the fact that you lost the girl of your dreams to a frog?” Kijima asked, still looking at his phone.

“She’s not the girl of my anything,” he grumbled, helpless to hide that he actually was lamenting. “We don’t even know her. I just thought she was… nice.”

“You hear that, Ren? You’re breaking his heart.”

“Rrrree-eenn,” Ren chirped from his perch on Kijima.

Hikaru pasted on a wan smile that was brittle and likely to crumble at the slightest touch.

“Don’t you ever feel like you’re just a secondary character to someone else’s adventure sometimes?” he mused while dragging a finger across the coffee table.

This got Kijima’s attention and he looked up from his phone. “Hey, whoa, none of that moping,” he chided. “You think the Fellowship, who helped Frodo take the ring to Mount Doom, weren’t integral to the story? We’re the whole reason Ren even made it here in the first place.”

“I know.” A sigh. “I know.”

“Good.” Kijima clapped him on the shoulder. “No one’s gonna treat you like a main character until you do it first.”

Even Ren voiced his agreement.

Kyoko joined them after she’d helped close up for the night. She held a small coin purse in her hand when she approached where they sat at the coffee table in the center of the room. Kijima set the sheet of letters on the table and coaxed Ren down from his shoulder. She smiled and sat.

“I think I might know what he’s here for.” Kyoko held up the coin purse before undoing the clasp and reaching inside.

She pulled out a stone of deep purplish-blue and set it on the table. Hikaru wondered if it was some sort of magical artifact. Perhaps she had some other method of restoring him, aside from the tried and true. He held his breath as Ren hopped over, stopping just before he touched it.

“Well, go on,” she urged. “It belongs to you anyway.”

But Ren just hopped away. He moved towards the paper and landed squarely on ‘NO’.

“What do you mean, no?” Kyoko asked in confusion and Ren began to leap between letters.

_K-I-S-S._ Ah, well, tried and true it was.

“What?!”

Kijima failed to hide his laugh as the shaking in his shoulders gave him away. “For someone so well-versed in fairytales, this surprises you? The frog prince legend is elementary stuff.”

“But, I swore I’d never—I can’t,” she spluttered. “I just can’t.”

Clearly there was a great deal more to her than she would explain. Considering how thrilled she was when they shared their tale with her, it was odd for her to balk at the eleventh hour. Particularly since there was an obvious, significant connection between her and Ren. It made Hikaru sad for a number of reasons he didn’t care to address.

“Kyoko,” Hikaru began in a gentle voice. “You seem to be his only chance. Clearly you two were friends, or something, once. Is there something he did that’s preventing you?”

“Oh, goodness, no.” She shook her head. “He was once very dear to me, though I’d lost contact with him but I… well, it’s personal.”

“I see.” Hikaru didn’t want to push. “It’s late. We should probably go. Do you want us to leave a number where you can reach us if you change your mind?”

Ren jumped up and down on ‘NO’ and let out a loud squeak that distracted Kyoko. She frowned at the frog with a brow furrowed in thought. Ren kept at it until she turned away.

“No, stay!” she relented. Her words, laden with uncertainty as they were, plummeted the moment they left her mouth. “I… I’ll do it. Now.”

Ren sprang towards her, all exuberant croaks and eager hops. Kyoko held out her hands, palms facing up, towards him. 

“Hang on,” Kijima stopped them. “You might want to put something over him first. We don’t know if he’s wearing clothes under all that.”

Kyoko’s face colored, but she nodded before rushing out of the room. She returned with a green plaid blanket. Once Ren was sitting comfortably in her hands, Kijima helped drape the blanket over the back of him. It looked quite comical and Kyoko couldn’t help but laugh.

Hikaru went to stand next to Kijima. The two of them held their breath and they waited. Kyoko whispered something to Ren that they couldn’t hear before she tightly shut her eyes. Kijima’s hand found Hikaru’s shoulder and gripped tightly. Everything seemed to go completely still and absolutely silent when she, slowly, lowered her head towards Ren.

A burst of something bright and forceful pushed them backwards and Hikaru found himself on the ground staring at the ceiling. Tiny sparks of light poured down over him from above like confetti. Pulling himself into a sitting position, he saw Kijima still sprawled out next to him. He started shaking him awake.

“Kijima!” _Shake._ “Kijima!” _Shake-shake._ “Hey, Hidehito, get the hell up!”

Kijima mumbled incoherently for a moment before he cracked one eye open. “Did we do it?”

Hikaru never thought to check. Now that it had been brought to his attention, he still wasn’t all that keen on the idea. Instead, he helped pull his friend upright who immediately tapped him on the arm as soon as he got a good look at what happened. Hikaru hesitantly followed his gaze.

Well, he was clothed, at least—a simple combination of dark jeans and a t-shirt. He was also quite tall, despite being doubled over on his knees before Kyoko. He was very blond. And he was drop dead gorgeous. 

Go hoppin' figure.

He and Kyoko murmured in quiet voices to each other, mostly consisting of soft questions and even softer reassurances. Damn it all, even his voice was resonant and deep. Hikaru scrambled to his feet, pulling Kijima along with him. The shower of magical sparks had cleared and it was obvious that they should leave the reunited couple alone.

Inching their way to the door, they mumbled their farewell in hopes that it would go unnoticed. As their luck would have it, Ren—or whichever name he actually went by—stopped them before they could make it out. Both he and Kyoko approached them, their faces flushed and blissful.

“I knew I was right about you two.” He gave them a kind smile. “I knew you’d help me find the one I was looking for.”

Kyoko grinned and leaned into his side.

“Glad we could give you your happy ending,” Kijima said. “Or the start of one, I suppose.”

“Definitely a start,” he agreed before looking at Hikaru. “I know it feels like I took your chance at one away from you, but you’ll find yours soon enough. Maybe even sooner than you think.”

“Thanks, I guess.” Hikaru shrugged.

They bid the two a hasty goodnight and, after thanking the owners for their kindness on the way out, they stepped out into the street. Cars still sped by despite the late hour and the city was just as lively as ever. A cold wind whipped through the buildings, sending icy flakes to sting at their cheeks. It must have snowed in the hours they’d spent inside. Hikaru zipped his coat up as high as it would go and turned the collar up around his ears for good measure. 

“Well, now we’re secondary characters in someone else’s love story,” he groused, kicking the toe of his shoe hard against the asphalt and leaving a dark, wet divot in the snow.

“Always the bridesmaid; never the bride. C’mon, Ishibashi, let’s go home.” 

Kijima gave him a crooked smile, slung an arm across his shoulders and, together, they walked off into the night.

END

**Author's Note:**

> So the additional challenge between Aki, Persie and myself was to write a story where the three main characters were Kijima, Hikaru, and Ren. After that, we could do as we pleased.
> 
> Therefore, I have only my madness to blame for the majority of this.


End file.
